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63 min: Chance for Fulham! Wilson’s inswinging corner picks out Muniz, criminally unmarked six yards out. His unconvincing flicked header hits a Liverpool player, Wirtz I think, and flies over the bar. That could easily have gone in off Wirtz, and it probably should have gone in off Muniz.
60 min Berge’s shot from 25 yards is blocked by Van Dijk.
58 min A third Liverpool goal feels like a matter of time. THere’s an appeal for a penalty when Salah’s chip hits the hand of Robinson, but it was close enough to his body and he was trying to pull it out of the way.
54 min Ngumoha shoots straight at Leno from 20 yards after another thrilling run. He may be playing himself into the starting XI for PSG on Tuesday; it would certainly get the crowd going.
52 min Ngumoha’s cross is volleyed over on the stretch by Wirtz. Ngumoha is given Castagne an increasingly torrid time.
50 min Liveprool almost make it three on the break. Frimpong plays a give-and-go with Salah and crosses towards Gakpo, who sees the ball late and can’t quite control it on the six-yard line. With a surer touch he would probably have scored, but it came over the head of a Fulham defender so you can understand why he failed to control it.
49 min Robinson flashes a beautiful ball across the six-yard box, with no Fulham attacker able to get in touch and no Liverpool player daring to go near it.
49 min “As absurd as it feels to say, these next few matches for Arne Slot are ultimately about his legacy at Liverpool,” writes Kári Tulinius. “I think if they start next season in the Champions League, he’ll be fondly remembered. I can see the logic of Liverpool pouncing on Xabi Alonso now, but I think Slot is a very good manager, and I imagine the shrewder operators in European football are considering moves for him.”
47 min: Disallowed goal for Fulham Lukic, clearly offside, scores on the turn after his fellow substitute Smith Rowe has a shot half blocked.
46 min Peep peep!
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Liverpool Ryan Gravenberch for the injured Curtis Jones
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Fulham Sasa Lukic and Emile Smith Rowe for Oscar Bobb and Josh King.
Half-time reading
Half time: Liverpool 2-0 Fulham
Just what the doctor ordered for Arne Slot and Liverpool, a largely stress-free first half. Rio Ngumoha, 17, and Mo Salah, 33, curled two fine goals in the space of five minutes to put Liverpool in control – and, as things stand, four points clear of the Champions League-chasing pack. (Though Chelsea have a game in hand against City tomorrow.)
45+2 min Jones is back on the field, at least for the remainder of this half.
45+1 min “Tim Wheeler was 17 when he recorded Girl From Mars,” writes Matt Dony. “Mary Shelley began drafting Frankenstein at the same age. Picasso already had Science and Charity under his belt by his 17th birthday. And Rio Ngumoha goes and does that. 17. Seventeen. Unbelievable. Still, maybe I’ll still create a masterpiece…”
I can’t lie, Matt, I’m a bit disappointed to be excluded from your list of precocious 17-year-olds.
45 min Curtis Jones is down with what looks like a muscle injury. There will be two minutes of added time.
43 min Fulham were having their best spell when Ngumoha scored. Now they’re in danger of being finished off before half-time. Ngumoha tees up Robertson for a shot on the half turn that is saved to his right by Leno.
43 min “Robster!” writes Simon McMahon. “I’m high on crack life after a last kick winner for Dundee United today, and also the fact that it’s Masters Saturday Andrew ‘Andy’ Robertson is starting for Liverpool. He might be my favourite player of the last 15 years. The season he spent at Tannadice seems like a distant dream, but a very pleasant one.
“Will never forget this goal he scored, I watched him all the way as he made his way forward before drilling a shot into the corner. If the net hadn’t been there it would have made its way to me as I stood open mouthed, like he knew I was watching and was trying to pass to me. He celebrated right in front of me and my daughter, who was about 15 at the time, not an awful lot younger than him. Happy days.
“I guess, even after the career high of a Scottish Cup final to defeat to St. Johnstone in 2014, he’s done alright for himself since he left, and even though we’ve been relegated twice in the decade since, I’d still have him back.”
42 min That’s Mo Salah’s 256th goal for Liverpool. Two hundred and fifty blooming six.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-0 Fulham (Salah 40)
Mo Salah makes it two! It was almost a mirror image of Ngumoha’s goal, curled and placed immaculately into the far corner with his left foot. Ngumoha and Gakpo combined to see up Salah, who took the shot first time and swept it beautifully past Leno. He didn’t strike it was quite as cleanly as Ngumoha but both shots were right in the corner and gave Leno no chance.
40 min Szoboszlai wins the ball high up the field and finds Wirtz, who pings a shot over the bar from 20 yards.
It’s Rio Ngumoha’s first goal at Anfield, and nobody at the ground tonight will forget it in a hurry. Anthony Taylor played a good advantage, allowing Wirtz to move forward and find Ngumoha on the left side of the area. He twisted Castagne one way and then the other before moving back onto his right foot and curling a perfectly placed shot into the far corner. He set it outside the far post with just enough curler to bring it back into ithe net. That’s such an accomplished goal, the kind a 17-year-old should be incapable of scoring.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Fulham (Nguomha 36)
Rio Nguomha, 17 years old, gives Liverpool the lead with a beauty!
35 min After another smooth Fulham attack, Robinson badly overhits his cross. But this is a good spell for Fulham, easily their best of the match.
33 min Harry Wilson comes close against his old club with a trademark curler from the edge of thea rea that dips onto the roof of the net. Mamardashvili probably had it covered, but I wouldn’t put the farm on it.
32 min Fulham are growing into this game. Bobb’s snapshot from 12 yards is pushed away by Mamardashvili, diving to his left. A fairly comfortable save.
29 min King plays a fine reverse pass to the underlapping Castagne, who moves into the area and arrows a cutback towards the unmarked Iwobi 15 yards out He can’t control the ball and the attacks peters out. Moments later Iwobi shoots straight at Mamardashvili from distance.
23 min Ngumoha almost beats Castagne in the area with an extravagant piece of skill. Castagne read it well and got between his man and the ball.
Liverpool have been very good so far.
22 min Salah has a close-range shot well blocked, I think by Berge. He tried to delay the shot to buy a yard, but it was such a crowded penalty area and there was just no room to get a shot away.
20 min Wirtz, Ngumoha and Robertson combine nicely to find Gakpo, whose low drive from 20 yards goes not far wide. Leno probably had it covered.
19 min Fulham’s first corner is punched away with authority by Mamardashvili.
17 min Ngumoha goes down in the area after a slightly clumsy challenge from Bobb. Anthony Taylor waves it away.
16 min It’s still all Liverpool. They’re playing with good rhythm and plenty of intensity. So far Fulham haven’t had a chance to get on the ball.
14 min: Good save! Frimpong fires the ball into Salah, who hits a sharp right-foot shot that is well stopped at the near post by the plunging Leno.
11 min Robertson runs onto a Frimpong cutback, only to hit a tame shot from the edge of the area that is easily blocked.
9 min Ngumoha gets away from Castagne in the area but chips his cross too close to Leno.
9 min The lively Frimpong wins another corner down the right. Salah’s inswinger is nutted away by Bassey.
6 min Nothing comes of the corner, with Konate penalised for wrestling with Berge.
5 min Salah finds the underlapping Frimpong, who wins the first corner of the game. Liverpool have started pr-etty well.
3 min Both teams have started in a 4-2-3-1 formation as expected.
1 min Fulham kick off from left to right as we watch. The home fans launch straight into a song about Andy Robertson, who announced this week that he will leave the club this summer. £8m he cost.
A peedie reminder of the teams
Liverpool (4-2-3-1) Mamardashvili; Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Szoboszlai, Jones; Salah, Wirtz, Ngumoha; Gakpo
Subs: Woodman, Gomez, Kirkez, Isak, Mac Allister, Chiesa, Ekitike, Gravenberch, Nyoni.
Fulham (4-2-3-1) Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson; Berge, Iwobi; Wilson, King, Bobb; Muniz.
Subs: Lecomte, Diop, Cuenca, Sessegnon, Lukic, Cairney, Smith Rowe, Chukwueze, Raul Jimenez.
Referee Anthony Taylor.
Marco Silva talks to Sky Sports
I like to be ambitious but realistic – Liverpool’s home season has not been that different from last season. We are prepared for a tough game but we are capable of playing good football and let’s hope we can reach our level again at Anfield.
It’s another big game for us. We want to restart in the best way possible [after the international break].
Arne Slot’s pre-match thoughts
[On making five changes] That made complete sense after the week we’ve had. It’s been very demanding physically and mentally. I tried to use yesterday’s training session to see who had recovered fully.
Some of them have to play again because I’m out of options in those positions. We have a lot of ingredients for a good game.
If you play for Liverpool, every game is a must-win, and this one as well.
Premier League results
And this is what it means for the Premier League table. There’s a Spandex mini-league taking place below the top four.
The Guardian has kicked off a new chapter in puzzles with the launch of its first daily football game, On the ball. It is now live in the app for both iOS and Android … so what are you waiting for?
Team news: Salah and Robertson start, Fulham unchanged
Mo Salah returns to the Liverpool team after being manacled to the bench in Paris. Andy Robertson also starts, as do Curtis Jones, Cody Gakpo and 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha. Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez, Joe Gomez, Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch all drop to the bench.
Fulham haven’t played since a 3-1 win over Burnley on 21 March. Marco Silva has named an unchanged side, which means an exciting front four of Harry Wilson, Josh King, Oscar Bobb and Rodrigo Muniz.
Liverpool (4-2-3-1) Mamardashvili; Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Szoboszlai, Jones; Salah, Wirtz, Ngumoha; Gakpo
Subs: Woodman, Gomez, Kirkez, Isak, Mac Allister, Chiesa, Ekitike, Gravenberch, Nyoni.
Fulham (4-2-3-1) Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson; Berge, Iwobi; Wilson, King, Bobb; Muniz.
Subs: Lecomte, Diop, Cuenca, Sessegnon, Lukic, Cairney, Smith Rowe, Chukwueze, Raul Jimenez.
Referee Anthony Taylor.
Andy Hunter
Arne Slot has said last season’s title triumph “postponed” the end of an era at Liverpool but that the club were under no illusions a rebuild was required when appointing him as Jürgen Klopp’s successor.
Two more links to the Klopp era will be removed this summer when Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah leave on free transfers. Virgil van Dijk, Alisson and Joe Gomez, the remaining players from the squad that delivered Premier League and Champions League success to Anfield under Klopp, will then enter the final years of their contracts.
Slot is under intense pressure after a dismal season that has brought 16 defeats, a figure he knows is unacceptable. The head coach, however, insists he and the club hierarchy, including the sporting director, Richard Hughes, and the owner, Fenway Sports Group, remain aligned on the reasons for the problems, including an inevitable transition period after Klopp. The turmoil that accompanies transition, Slot believes, was delayed by last season’s Premier League title.
Preamble
Pop quiz, hotshot. Which of Liverpool’s next two games is more important: Fulham (H) or Paris Saint-Germain (H). It’s the Fulham game we’re covering today, so let’s try to hype that within an inch of its life make the case for that being the big one. It’s pretty simple: Liverpool have a 5-10 per cent of overcoming a 2-0 deficit against one of the greatest club sides in modern history, so they should prioritise qualifying for next year’s Ch£mpion$ League. Next stop, rocket science.
Liverpool have a tough Premier League run-in, including matches away to Everton, Man Utd and Aston Villa, and their home form will probably determine whether they finish in the top five. Even allowing for some good recent home form – Liverpool have scored 24 goals in the last seven games at Anfield – this is unlikely to be an easy night. Fulham can give any Premier League team a game, as they showed that last season when they took four points off a Liverpool side that romped to the title.
It’s too easy, when spring comes around, that Fulham are safely in mid-table and have nothing much to play for. Wrong! They started the day in ninth and have every chance of qualifying for Europe for the first time since 2011-12. They could even reach the Champions League: if they win today, they will be only two points behind Liverpool.
Kick off 5.30pm BST
